Page 23 of Omega's Heart

“I can make it right away,” Felix rushed to say, obviously pleased to have something to do for him. “No one seemed to know if you liked coffee or tea with breakfast, so I was ready with both.” He pushed a button on the front of a tiny little coffee pot, then fumbled a cell phone out of his pocket. He seemed uncertain using it, like he’d never had one before. Kaden’s nerves stretched tighter and tighter watching him poke awkwardly around on the screen before Felix finally put it to his ear and said, “Hi, Bax, he’s up and says he’d be happy to see the Alpha. Does the Alpha prefer coffee or tea? And has he eaten yet?” He stood there listening, his head cocked so the sun streaking in the window over the kitchen sink caught highlights of bronzy gold in his short hair. It was still hard to believe he was an omega, but scents didn’t lie. Was he maybe a cousin of Holland’s? There was something similar in the way they smelled. It wasn’t unattractive, but startling once you noticed it and definitely not the same as the omegas he remembered from his teen years in Salma.

Kaden turned back to his breakfast. The steak was surprisingly tender, given what he remembered from his last trip to Salma Wood five years ago and the state of their food stores at the time. Maybe Mercy Hills was doing better than Salma had been. Or maybe he was just getting the little brother treatment.

Or the cripple one.

He took that phrase and mentally packed it into a box and put it away in a closet at the back of his brain like his therapist had taught him to right after he’d been shipped stateside. He wasn’t to put bad memories there, because they needed to be dealt with in a different fashion, but negative messages— boom. For the first while, he’d resisted—it was hard, how could that work, wasn’t it what he was? Until one of Quin’s visits had given him some insight into it all, and he’d started making the effort. Now it was second nature.

Felix brought over the coffee pot and filled his mug. “There’s honey and milk if you want it.”

“I do. Both of them.” Coffee was hit or miss—more miss than hit, in his experience, and liberal application of sweeteners and cream had been necessary more often than not. He’d developed a sweet tooth, at least when it came to his morning coffee. “Thank you,” he said as they appeared on the table, almost like magic.

A guy could get used to this.

A knock echoed through the room and then the door opened, Quin not bothering to wait for anyone to come let him in. “Smells good in here,” he said as he closed the door behind him.

“Sit down,” Kaden told him. “How’s life today as the big boss?” Never let your brother think he’s the boss of you. It just sets a bad precedent.

“It’s kind of like being in charge of a bunch of raw recruits with a lot fewer resources to keep them in line,” Quin said, his voice as dry as the desert. He took the chair Kaden kicked out for him, and glanced up as Felix held out a mug filled with coffee. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Felix said, then beat a hasty retreat, that tell-tale pink blush rising in his cheeks again.

“Eat.” Quin nodded at Kaden’s plate. “I’ve booked the rest of the morning off. Anything urgent comes up, Holland will handle it or Bax will call me if it needs me directly.”

“You let Holland handle pack business?” Kaden asked in surprise.

“He’s good at it. Why shouldn’t I?”

Kaden shrugged and started cutting his eggs into squares. “Just thought he’d be busy with the pups.”

“He is that, but you know we have a system in place here. And Cale’s around if he needs help. Or Julius.” At Kaden curious look, he explained. “Another omega, come to claim sanctuary. Garrick’s halfway tied up in that case still, since it involves the Segregation Laws.”

Kaden made a face and shoved a forkful of egg and bacon into his mouth. He’d been exempt from them while outside the country—one of the reasons why he’d spent so much time there—but if this omega had run afoul of those laws, it was serious business. “What’s he doing here, then, if he got caught out after hours?” he asked once he’d swallowed his food.

“The lawyer argued that being in the enclave wasn’t much different from being in prison. He’s got an ankle thing that keeps him within about a mile of the building here. It doesn’t restrict him much, really. He can still get out for Full Moon.” He sipped at his coffee. “Of course, if he disappears, I get to go to jail in his place, so there’s that. We’re trying to ensure continuity of business if we end up having to spirit him out of the country.”

Kaden froze with his fork in his mouth and stared at his brother for a moment, dumbfounded. Nothing good ever came of a shifter being sent to jail. To the real jails, the ones they’d built specifically for shifters. The likelihood was that the shifter wouldn’t make it out at all. If they did, there was always something subtly wrong with them. A chill raced over his skin and the food in his mouth turned to ash. He forced himself to swallow and washed down the stubborn lump with a mouthful of orange juice.

Quin was watching him with careful eyes, evidently waiting for an explosion.

Kaden considered it for a moment but decided to try reason first. “What in the ever-lovin’ fuck were you thinking when you agreed to that?”

“So nice to know that you support my leadership,” Quin deadpanned, that wicked glint in his eyes that always served to remind Kaden that Quin was both a force to be reckoned with and a shifter with a blade-sharp sense of humor.

“I’m still a Salma,” Kaden shot back. “I can be as profane as I want.”

“Are you planning to stay Salma? Or did you want me to put the paperwork through to request the transfer?”

“Does Mom know I’m back now?”

“I haven’t told her.” Again, that twinkle in his brother’s eye.

Kaden ate another bite of steak. “Maybe. It’ll really set her off if we all run away from home.”

“Will that matter if you’re here?”

“Phones, Quin.”

“Blocked numbers, Kaden,” Quin mocked him back, but gently.